Meet 12 Celebs Who Pull Off Harem Pants So Well That You’ll Actually Buy A Pair

The drop-crotch trouser and its sibling, the harem pant, are polarizing garments. It’s an easy thing to hate, like Uggs or Ed Hardy shirts. But every few years they start showing up in fashion editorials and on the tall, chic people one sees walking around New York. Then the rest of us start trying to wear them and a bunch of snarky busybodies start calling us fashion victims. (Hi, mom!)

But you can wear drop-crotch pants without looking like an asshole. It’s just a matter of finding the right cut and styling. But Gwen Stefani and Rihanna are some of the very best celebrities for style copying, and they wear harem pants all the time. Check out these celebrities rocking drop-crotch trousers and just see if you don’t want to try them yourself.

Rihanna

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Rihanna wears drop-crotch trousers so often we could pretty much fill up this entire post with just pictures of her. Drop-crotch trousers can cut you off and make you look like a stump when worn too low or with (horrors) cuffed hems, but this pair has a high waist that makes the look elongate her figure instead.

Halle Berry

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Halle Berry just wore these last night to the CBS Upfronts. Keeping everything else very understated and ladylike makes this seem chic and mature, instead of like a trendy fashion victim. Kate Middleton could probably wear this outfit without getting an angry look from the Queen.

Gwen Stefani

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Gwen Stefani wears drop-crotch pants even more than Rihanna, and she always looks so cool and comfortable. She’s not particularly tall, either, so this just proves that average-height women can look badass in harem pants.

Jessica Alba

Not everyone loves this Jessica Alba outfit, but all the high-end fabrics make these drop-crotch trousers look posh enough for work. It’s counterintuitive, but if you’re going to buy harem pants, maybe spend a little more than usual on them.

Jennifer Lopez

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OK, the sparkles are a bit hard to take, but Jennifer Lopez has done a decent job of pairing two slouchy pieces at once. Were she to pair it with a sports bustier, it would have been pretty disastrous. But slouchy trousers with a slightly less slouchy tank balances the silhouette nicely.

Leona Lewis

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Leona Lewis’ trousers are also sparkly. The short length means they’re basically like a skirt, but she can run up the stairs without flashing people.

Ciara

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Ciara’s are extremely droopy and the material was slinky. Pairing them with a tailored blazer was a good choice for contrast.

There’s a lot of things to hate about this outfit, but the white drop-crotch jumpsuit is not one of them.

Victoria Beckham

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And Victoria Beckham knocks it out of the park. These slouchy pants with a comfortable T-shirt and blazer are the perfect airport outfit.

Lily Collins

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Lily Collins’ drop-crotch leather sweatpants caused some conflicting opinions in The Gloss offices, but I think they’re fab and not just because I wanted to look exactly like this back in the 90s. (OK, it’s mostly because I wanted to look exactly like that back in the 90s.)

Sometimes I love drop-crotch trousers, and sometimes I hate them. But drop-crotch trousers are always a difficult proposition. Let’s just face it: They are hard to wear. The key is to look slouchy and casual, without looking crazy or like a total slob. Gwen Stefani always does it right.

Above all else, stay away from drop-crotch skinny jeans. If the rest of the leg is too skinny or tapered, people start making diaper jokes. The last thing you want is to look like this: